Cotton-chopper.



J. W. PATTERSGN.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.I8, 191'4.

Patented July 6, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.1s. 1914.

mmaywm P Patented July 6, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2E MBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON D c J.'W. PATTERSON.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED. AUG. 18. 1914.

Patentd July 6, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH C0 WASHINGTON, D- C.

TINT AT PTNT @FFTUE.

JOHN W. PATTERSON, OF DECATUR, ALABAMA.

COTTON-CHOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 18, 1914. Serial No. 857,420.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN WV. PATTERSON, acitizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county ofMorgan and State of Alabama, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Cotton-Choppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cotton choppers, and it has particularreference to that class of machines in which a hoe or chopping pingmechanism, and means whereby the chopping mechanism is actuated Afurther object of the invention is to produce a simple and improvedconstructionwhereby the chopping hoe shall be movable longitudinally ofthe carrying shaft, means being provided whereby the hoe is movedrearwardly with respect to the frame when in active operation, so thatit will be temporarily deprived of forward movement with respect to therow of plants operated upon while it is in active operation.

Further objects of the invention are to simplify and improi e thegeneral construetion and operation of the machine.

With these and other'ends in view which will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in theimproved construction and novel arrangement and combination of partswhich will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed. outinth'e claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferredform of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitationis necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited,but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of theclaims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a top plan view of a machine constructed inaccordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional viewof the same; Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4: is a front View. Fig. 5is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 55 in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 isa detail view in elevation of the transmission gearing.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by likecharacters of reference.

The main frame A of the improved machine, which is mainly rectangular inshape, is supported at its rear end on an axle 15 having transportingwheels 16. The axle 15 is revoluble in itsbearings, and the wheels 1.6are revoluble on the axle, but one of said wheels may be connected withthe axle by a clutch element, conventionally indicated at 17, for thepurpose of rotating the axle when the machine is traveling in a forwarddirection. The clutch may be placed in or out of gear by any well knownmeans, in order that motion may be transmitted from said axle to movingparts of the machine, or that such motion may be interrupted at will.The forward end of the main frame is supported on steering wheelsconsisting of caster wheels 18 mounted in forks 19 at the lower endofshanks 20 which are journaled vertically in the frame, each of saidshanks being provided at its upper end with a pinion 21. The pinions 21at the two sides of the frame are in mesh with arcuate racks 22 formedat the two ends of a rocking bar 23 pivotally supported at 24. Avertical shaft or post 25 supported in suitable proximity to the driverwhose seat 26 is supported near therearward end of the frame carries asprocket wheel 27 over which is guided a chain QS'the ends of which areconnected either directly or by means of rods 29 with the two ends ofthe rocking bar 23 which may thus be actuated to rotate the shankscarrying the steering wheels for the purpose of steering the machine.The forward cross bar 30 of the frame A is pro vided with draft means,such as an evener 31, suitably attached thereto or connected therewith.

The main frame A is provided with depending brackets 32, 33, saidbrackets being connected with the side bars of the frame, respectively,near the front and rear ends thereof. The front brackets areprovidedwith racks 34 at theirrearward edges, and the several brackets aresuitably reinforced by braces 35. An auxiliary frame B of approximatelyrectangular form is provided Patented July 6, 1915.

with shafts 36 carrying wheels 37 which are guided on the smoothforward'edges of the respective brackets 32 and 38. Another transverseshaft 38 carried by the frame B is provided with pinions 39 meshing withthe racks 34 at the rearward edges of the brackets 32.

To support the auxiliary frame B and to effect vertical adjustmentthereof, the main frame A carries a transverse shaft L0 provided with anarm or lever 41 whereby it may be rocked. Said shaft also carries agrooved wheel 42 at diametrically opposite sides of which are attachedflexible elements 43 guided over guide wheels 44: to the frame 13 withwhich they are connected. It will be seen that by rocking the shaft 40,the auxiliary frame may be raised .or lowered. For the purpose ofsupporting it in an elevated position the arm or lever 11 may be placedin engagement with a retaining hook 45.

The auxiliary frame carries a longitudinal rock shaft i-fi'having at itsrear end a bevel pinion 47 adapted to mesh with two mutilated gears 48,one at each side thereof, said mutilated gears being fixed on a shaft ascarrying a pinion or spur wheel '50 which receives motion from a spurwheel 51 on the rear axle through the medium of an intermediate spurwheel 52 which is supported on a shaft 53 carried by toggle members 54,55 which are pivoted, respectively, on the rear axle 15 and on the shaft49. The latter, as will be seen, is mounted for rotation on thevertically movable auxiliary frame, and the distance of said shaft fromthe rear axle is, therefore, not constant. It is obvious, however, thatwhen the auxiliary frame is moved in a direction to decrease thedistance of the shaft 4:9 from the axle 15, the toggle arms willcollapse, while when the auxiliary frame is moved in a direction toincrease the distance of the shaft 4-9 from the axle 15, the toggle armswill expand without disengaging the spur wheel 52 from the spur wheels50 and 51. The rock shaft 46 will thus receive oscillatory motion atvarious adjustments'of the auxiliary frame.

Hubs 56 each having a radial arm 57 are mounted slidably on the rockshaft 46, and the arms :57 are connected together by the chopping hoe orblade 58 which is thereby supported. The chopping hoe may be of anydesired construction; preferably it is composed of two separate sidemembers or blades joined together in approximate V- shape, and saidblades are provided with indentations 59 suitably spaced apart for thepurpose of leaving stands of cotton at each stroke or operation. By thisconstruction the row of plants will be engaged by one of the blades ateach stroke or movement in any vdirection. The chopping hoe 58, the

arms 57 and the hubs 56 combine to form what I prefer to call thecutting frame, and said cutting frame is normally moved in a forwarddirection on theshaft &6 by the action of a coiled spring 60. Theauxiliary frame B supports an arcuate guide member 61 which is sodisposed in the path of the forward arm 57 of the cutting frame thatwhen the said frame swings from one side to the other, it will be movedrearwardly against the tension of the spring 60. The parts are to be soproportioned and arranged that when the machine moves forward at averagespeed the rearward movement of the cutting frame on the rock shaft 46will be equal to the forward movement of the machine during apredetermined period, or approximately so. The chopping hoe will thusmake no forward movement with respect to the row of plants while it isengaged in its active chopping operation,

thus avoiding the uprooting of the stands of plants that it is desiredto leave untouched. The action of the spring (30 will serve to restorethe cutting frame in a forward direction on the rock shaft 46.

A yoke 66 carried by the auxiliary frame B supports the scraper blades 7which serve to trim the edges of the row that is to be operated upon inadvance of the operation of the chopping hoe. The frame B is providedwith depending hangers or brackets 68 with which gage members G arepivotally connected, said gage members including arcuate blades 69 thatare positioned in advance of the scrapers 67, said blades havingrearwardly extending arms 70 that are pivoted on the brackets 68 at 71and are provided with upward extensions 72 that are connected with bolts73 passing through the front cross bar of the frame B, said bolts havingsprings 7 4: that serve to force the up ward extensions 72 in a forwarddirection, thereby holding the gage blades 69 in ground engagingposition. The frame B also carries cultivator blades 7 6 and resilientlysupported gage members 77 to regulate the depth of operation of saidcultivator blades.

From the foregoing description, taken in 1 connection with the drawingshereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will bereadily understood. When the machine is drawn over the field itstraddles the row of plants. The scrapers 67 2 will trim the sides ofthe row, said scraper being followed by the chopping hoe which, atpredetermined intervals, governed by the mutilated portions of the bevelgears 58, will swing across the row, thereby chopping 25 out thesuperfluous plants, and leaving stands at regular intervals. Thechopping hoe is followed by the cultivator blades which throw the loosedirt in the direction of the roots of the remaining plants, the

vigorous growth of which will thus be promuted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a machine of the class described, a carrying frame havingsupporting wheels and a rear axle, an auxiliary frame supported forvertical adjustment with respect to the carrying frame, means forraising and lowering the auxiliary frame, a rock shaft on the auxiliaryframe carrying a chopping frame and a bevel pinion, a counter shaft onthe auxiliary frame having opposed mutilated bevel gears meshing withthe bevel pinion, and means for transmitting motion to the counter shaftfrom the rear axle including spur wheels on said counter shaft and axle,toggle arms pivoted on said counter shaft and axle, and a spur wheelsupported by the toggle arms in mesh with the spur wheels on the countershaft and the axle.

2. In a machine of the class described, a wheel supported carryingframe, front and rear brackets depending at each side of said frame, thefront brackets having toothed rearward edges, an auxiliary frame havingguide wheels engaging the forward edges of the depending front and rearbrackets, and pinions engaging the toothed rearward edges of the frontbrackets, a transverse shaft supported on the main frame, means forrocking said shaft, a grooved wheel on said shaft, flexible elements,each connected at one end with the grooved wheel at diametricallyopposite sides thereof and at the other end with the auxiliary frame,and

guide means over which said flexible elements are guided.

3. In a machine of the class described, a carrying frame, an auxiliaryframe supported for vertical adjustment, a rock shaft on the auxiliaryframe, means for intermittently actuating said rock shaft, a cuttingframe slidable on the rock shaft, and an arcuate guide supported on theauxiliary frame in the path of the cutting frame.

4:. In a machine of the class described, a chopping device including arock shaft, means for intermittently actuating the same, a cutting frameslidable on the rock shaft, a spring to force said cutting frame in onedirection, and an arcuate guide member supported in the path of thecutting frame to force said frame against the tension of the spring asit swings from side to side.

5. In a machine of the class described, a chopping device comprising arock shaft, hubs mounted slidably on said rock shaft to oscillatetherewith, arms extending from said hubs, a chopping hoe connected withsaid arms and combining therewith and with the hubs to constitute achopping frame, a spring engaging the chopping frame to force said framenormally in one direction with respect to the rock shaft, and an arcuateguide member supported in the path of one of the arms of the choppingframe to force said frame against the tension of the spring.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. PATTERSON.

Witnesses:

A. B. BRINDLEY, C. B. MITCHELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

